Latest News On Price Transparency

Latest Kaiser Health News Stories

Most hospitals appear to be complying with the federal rule to post their prices online. Yet there is little follow-up by the government or industry and debate continues about whether the price lists are creating more confusion than clarity among consumers.

A new federal rule requires hospitals to post their prices online. These lists reveal the wildly different charges for basic procedures and services, but consumers will have a hard time putting this information to use.

Not only are health prices hidden, industry players are contractually obligated to keep them secret. That’s why answering a simple question — how much does it cost to have a baby in Mountain View, Calif.? — became a journalistic quest.

Three-quarters of participants in a newly released study said they did not know of resources for comparing health care costs, while half said that if a website were available to provide such information, they would use it.

Proposed legislation would require drugmakers to disclose and justify price hikes. The industry has taken to Facebook and Twitter, warning that the proposal could lead to medication shortages in some regions of the state.